Apparatus for uncoiling strip material



Jan. 25, 1966 c. s. SHUMAKER 3,231,213

APPARATUS FOR UNCOILING STRIP MATERIAL Filed April 25, 1963 3Sheets-Sheet 1 ill, lav/4 fir.

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INVENTOR. 094M155 5. Sl/l/MAAEQ ATTORNEY Jan. 25, 1966 c. s. SHUMAKERAPPARATUS FOR UNCOILING STRIP MATERIAL 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 25,1963 IN VEN TOR. 0942155 6'. J/ll/MA/(FQ ATTOR/VFK Jan. 25, 1966 c. s.SHUMAKER 3,231,213

APPARATUS FOR UNCOILING STRIP MATERIAL Filed April 25, 1963 3Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig. (5

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J1 QWMZL United States Patent Office 3,23 1,213 Patented Jan. 25, 1966This invention relates to an apparatus for uncoiling strip material andis particularly addressed to the uncoilquirement has been to provide twoseparate and independent operable tandemly arranged machines. Oneconsisted of a drag-type uncoiler, the essential parts of whichcomprised opposed expandable coil engaging cones. The other took theform of a coil box having for its essential elements opposed coilengaging disks. That such an arrangement was very expensive isself-evident, but an equal disadvantage was found in the fact that thearrangement of the machines necessitated a considerable distanceexisting between the mill and the drag-type uncoiler, the most remotelypositioned machine. 7

A second form of previous strip uncoiling apparatuses consisted of aunitary coil box and drag-type uncoiler wherein the coil engaging disksof the coil box and the coil supporting cones of the uncoiler werearranged to rotate about a common axis and the cones were retractablethrough openings formed in'the disks of the coil box. In this machinethe disks of the coil box and the "cones of the uncoiler were providedwith separate traversing means. It must be pointed out that this machinehas not proven to be altogether effective in handling tightly woundcoils. Moreover, when the machine was being used as a coil box, theopenings provided in the disks each other. This arrangement, obviously,in addition to being quite expensive, had the additional seriousdisadvantage of involving considerable lost time in effecting thesubstitution of the machines.

A further limitation of previous uncoiling apparatuses, which waspresent in each of the aforesaid forms, has

reference to the fact that the coil supporting rollers or I the actualcoil supporting portions thereof the coil boxover which the coilsrotated had who made very short in length so that the disks thereofcould be brought into engagement with the sides of narrow coils. As aresult, the maximum width coils were supported by a narrow surface andin handling extremely heavy coils the outer wraps thereof became markeddue to the concentration of pressure in a small area.

said disadvantages, but it may be manufactured and operated at asubstantial savings in cost over the previous designs.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided aunitary coil box and drag-type uncoiler apparatus in which at least oneof the disks of the coil box and one of the expandable mandrels of theuncoiler are traversable by the same means.

According to another aspect of the present invention,

there is provided a combination coil box and drag-type uncoilerapparatus wherein the disks of the coil box are readily movable toinoperative positions when not in use, but which, when in theiroperative positions, are adapted to be supported and traversed by theexpandable mandrels of the uncoiler.

The present invention also provides a novel arrangement of at least twodifferent length coil supporting members, which may be alternativelybrought into an operative portion for supporting coils of differentwidths so that all coils may be adequately supported for a given rangeof widths. In addition, a coil lift is provided which cooperates withthe aforesaid members for positioning a coil relative to the mandrels ofthe drag-type uncoiler.

These and other novel features and advantages of the present inventionwill be more readily understood from the following description of anexemplary apparatus incorporating the features of the invention providedfor uncoiling strip to a rolling mill, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view partly in section of an apparatusaccording to the present invention employed as a coil box;

FIGURE la is a partial elevational view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE1 employed as a drag type uncoiler;

FIGURE 2 is a section view taken on lines II-II of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a section View taken on lines III-Il1 of FIGURE 1.

As a preface to describing the illustrated machine, it

may be helpful to reiterate that the machine comprises a unitary coilbox drag-type uncoiler, the former being employed to uncoil looselyformed coils and the latter for tightly formed coils. As will beapparent from the following remarks, the drawings illustrate the machineset up to be used as a coil box for feeding strip to a rolling mill 9.

With reference then to FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will be firstnoted that the coil uncoiling apparai 15, shown best in FIGURE 1. Thishead 15 includes a motor, not shown, that drives a horizontally arrangeddrive shaft 16 to which is connected a motor pinion that meshes with agear, the pinion and gear, while not being specifically shown, arereceived in a gear case 17, nor is there shown the spline shaftconstruction or extended portion of the shaft 16 that enables the head15 to be traversed relative the drive shaft 16.

To the left-hand side of the head 15, as one views FIG- URES 1 and 2,there is provided an extended horizontally disposed shaft 18, to whichis secured at its one end the aforesaid gear and to its other end aradially expandable mandrel 19. Although the construction thereof is notspecifically illustrated, the mandrel is of a very wellknown design andmay include in one form a plurality. of circular segments which areexpanded and contracted by complementary-cooperative wedges by theagency of a piston cylinder assembly 20 secured at the drive shaft sideof the head 15. As mentioned previously, the tightly wound coils areuncoiled by the mandrel 19 so that the mandrels diameter is such that itwill accommodate the substantially constant openings of the coils. Sincethe construction, arrangement and operation of the aforesaid elementsare generally well known, a more detailed description thereof is deemedunnecessary.

In coming now to the coil box aspect of the present invention and inreferring to FIGURE 3, it will be observed that the disk 22 thereof isshown in its operative position where it is freely rotatably supportedby the expanded mandrel 19. This construction is obtained by providing anon-rotatable sleeve 23 on mandrel 19 to which there is secured andarranged between the disk and the sleeve a bearing 24 that rotatablysupports the disk 22. The head including the mandrel 19, the pistoncylinder assembly and the disk 22 are advanced by the operation of apiston cylinder assembly 21 which is connected to the lower portion ofthe head, as shown in FIGURES l and 2. In certain forms it may benecessary only to traverse one of the units 11 and 12.

With reference again to the sleeve 23, it will be observed in FIGURES 2and 3 that there is secured to it an arm 25 that extends toward theright-hand side of the uncoiler unit 12 as one views these figures, atwhich .end there is provided a sleeve 26 which is carried by atransversely arranged equalizing shaft 27, the shaft being supported inthe frame 13 of the uncoiling apparatus. The construction of the sleeve26 and the shaft 27 is such that the sleeve is permitted to move axiallyand angularly relative to the shaft as indicated by the clearancebetween these members as shown in FIGURE 2. The arm 25 has a rib 28which passes between the fingers of a bifurcated member 29, when thedisk 22 is moved to its maximum outward position. The member 29 is madeas an integral part of a sleeve 31, shown best in FIGURE 2, which ismounted also on the shaft 27 and moves angularly relative thereto butnot axially. The bifurcated member 29 has a link 32, shown in FIGURE 3,which projects downwardly from the shaft 27 and is connected to the rodof a piston cylinder assembly 33.

By this construction the disk 22 is movable axially relative to theshaft 27 so that it is able to engage coils of the whole range ofwidths. To position the disk in its inoperative position, the disk isbrought to its extreme outward position by a retraction of the head 15.

. In this case the rib 28 will pass between the fingers of .thebifurcated member 29 so that on operation of the piston cylinderassembly 33 the disk will be swung downwardly and toward the right asone views FIGURE 3. It will be noted that the inoperative position isshown in outline form in this figure.

With the disk in its inoperative position, the piston cylinder assembly21 can be operated to bring the mandrel 19 into engagement with atightly wound coil. It will be observed that the mandrel 19 does notproject through the disk 22 in order to engage the coil and as a resultno central opening needs to be provided in the disk. This constructionhas the advantage over previous designs of not requiring any change inthe expanding mechanism of the drag-type uncoiler. The disk beingconstructed to be freely rotatable on the sleeve 23 will have a lowfriction and inertia effect, since it does not have to rotate with theexpandable mandrel 19. Conversely, the mandrel would not be subject tothe inertia of the disk since, as explained previously, the disk willmove to an inoperative position when the mandrel is being used tosupport coils.

On the side of the uncoiling apparatus, adjacent the.

mill, centrally located, are three horizontally arranged spaced apartfreely rotatable shock absorbing rollers carried by a swinging frame 30awhich at its upper end shock forces. 70-

is freely rotatably secured to the shaft 27. Connected at the lower endof the frame 30a is a horizontally arranged shock absorbing pistoncylinder assembly 30b. As previously noted, the present invention isaddressed also to a supporting arrangement for the various width coilsdelivered to the uncoiling apparatus. With reference to FIGURE 3, thereis illustrated immediately below the coil receiving area of theuncoiling apparatus, a roller assembly 34 consisting of two parallellyvertically arranged spaced apart frames 35 between which are mounted twopairs of freely rotatable rollers 36 and 37, the pair of rollers 36having narrow body portions in comparison with the body portions of therollers 37, as can be seen in comparing the rollers in FIGURE 2. Theframes are trunnion mounted on a common shaft 38 with which they rotate.For this purpose an arm 39 is provided, having its lower end connectedto the rod of a piston cylinder assembly 41 having a stroke sufficientto rotate the frames through an arc of approximately In this mannerdepending upon the particular width of the coil to be uncoiled, eitherpair of the rollers 36 or 37 can be brought into the coil supportingposition.

FIGURE 1 shows the construction of individual locking assemblies 42provided for each frame 35 to prevent inadvertent rotation of the rollerassembly, which comprise retractable pins 43 connected to pistoncylinder assemblies 44. Each frame 35 is provided with two spaced apartholes, one hole of each pair lining up with each other and the pins 43when either the rollers 36 or 37 are in the coil supporting positions.Two pairs of feet 40 are provided for the roller assembly, which pairsengage alternatively one of two parallelly spaced apart beam-s 40a andby which means whether supported by the rollers 36 or 37 the weight ofthe coils is transferred to the foundation.

The invention also contemplates providing a coil lift 45 for positioningthe coils coaxially with respect to the mandrel 19. The coil lift israised and lowered by a vertically arranged piston cylinder assembly 46.The coil engaging portion of the coil lift is so constructed that itwill pass between the spaces provided between the pairs of rollers 36 or37 as best shown in FIGURE 3. It is important to note that since thedisk 22 is not carried by the mandrel 19 as in previous apparatuses, thecoil lift 45 can be made substantially long giving the advantage of anadequate supporting surface for the wider coils. It will be understoodthat in FIGURE 3, when the machine is being used as a coil box, theupper end of the lift 45 will be lowered from where it is shown inFIGURE 3 to allow movement of the disk.

A brief description of the operation of the aforesaid uncoilingapparatus will now be given:

Let it be assumed that loosely wound coils are being fed to the rollingmill 9, and further, that the coils are of a narrow width, in this eventshould the short body rollers 36 not be in the horizontal position asthe rollers are viewed in FIGURE 3, the piston cylinder assembly 41 willbe operated to rotate the frames 35 about the shaft 38 to properlyposition these rollers. Should the width of the coil-s be substantiallywider, then the long body rollers 37 would be called upon to support thecoil.

The coil is transferred to the uncoiling apparatus by a means not shown,wherein a portion of its outer periphery will come into contact with theshock absorbing rollers 30 and displace them against the pressure of thepiston cylinder assembly 3012 which will dissipate the The coil willeventually come to rest upon the rollers 36.

At this point, the piston cylinder assemblies 21 of the respective units11 and 12 will-be operated to advance vertical surfaces of the coil. Itis normally the practice to separate and prepar'e'the leading end of thecoilprior to it being transferred to the coil box so that once the disksare positioned, the coil is ready to be fed immediately to the mill.

Assuming now that tightly wound coils are to be processed, and let it beassumed further that they are of the same width as the previous coils sothat there will be no need to substitute the rollers 37 for the rollers36, in this event the first order of operation would be to retract thedisks 22 to their inoperative positions. This is accomplished byoperating the piston cylinder assemblies 21 for units 11 and 12 to bringthe mandrels 19 and the disks 22 to their retracted positions where theribs 28 will pass into the fingers of the bifurcated members 29. Thepiston cylinder assemblies are then operated to collapse the mandrels 19whereby upon further operation of the piston cylinder assemblies 21, themandrels 19 are retracted from the sleeves 23. Upon this occurring, thepiston cylinder assemblies 33 will be operated to rotate the arms in acounter-clockwise direction which will bring the disks 22 to the outlineposition shown in FIGURE 3.

The uncoiler is now ready to receive the tightly wound coil which willbe positioned on the rollers 36 as previously explained. Once sopositioned, the piston cylinder assembly 41 will be operated to placethe axis of the coil in line with that of the mandrels 19 followingwhich the piston cylinder assemblies 21 will be operated to bring themandrels 19, although not the disks, into a position where the mandrelswill protrude into the open ings of the coil, Once this has beenaccomplished, the mandrel will be expanded to grip the coil.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that withinthe scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus capable of functioning alternatively as a coil box oruncoiler for uncoiling coils of strip-like material having opposedopenings the combination of:

a pair of opposed mandrels each having end portions adapted to bepresented to protrude into one of said openings of and for rotatablysupporting a coil when the apparatus is functioning as an uncoiler,

means for moving at least one of said mandrels relative to the other,

a disk cooperating with each of said mandrels having surfaces forengaging the opposite sides of a coil when the apparatus is functioningas a coil box,

said disks being constructed and arranged to be brought from anoperative position, wherein the disks are rotatably supported by saidmandrels and positioned so that their surfaces may be contacted by acoil, to an inoperative position, wherein said disks will be positionedaway from said mandrels and coil and vice-versa, and

means for moving the disks into and out of their operative positions.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said disks have portionsengageable by the cooperative mandrels for rotatably supporting thedisks and with respect to said movable mandrel for causing said mandrelto move one of said disks toward and away from one of the sides of acoil.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 including means for supporting aportion of the periphery of a coil when the coil is located between saidmandrels,

means for positioning said coil supporting means to align the axes ofsaid openings with the axes of the mandrels.

4. In an apparatus capable of functioning alternatively as a coil box oruncoiler for uncoiling coils of strip-like material having opposedopenings the combination of:

a pair of opposed rotatable mandrels, the diameters of which areexpandable and each having portions adapted to be presented to protrudeinto one of said openings of and for rotatably supporting a coil whenthe apparatus is functioning as an uncoiler,

means for moving in an axial direction said mandrels relative to eachother,

a disk cooperating with each of said mandrels having surfaces forengaging the opposite sides of a coil when the apparatus is functioningas a coil box,

said disks having portions engageable by said cooperative mandrels onthe expansion of the latter for rotatably supporting the disks and forcausing the mandrels to move the disks axially toward and away from thesides of a coil,

said disks being constructed and arranged to be brought from anoperative position, wherein the disks are rotatably supported by saidmandrels and positioned to be contacted by a coil, to an inoperativeposition, wherein the disks will be positioned away from said mandrelsand coil and vice-versa, and

means for moving the disks into and out of their operative positions.

v5. In an apparatus according to claim 4 in which the means for movingsaid disks includes means for controlling the movement thereof toposition said disks for engagement by said mandrels.

6. In an apparatus according to claim 4 including a support,

arms for connecting said disks to said support, and

means for rotating said arms to move the disks into and out of theiroperative and inoperative positions.

7. In an apparatus according to claim 6 wherein. each of said armsincludes a first engageable member,

second en ageable members secured to said support, said first and secondmembers being brought into engagement with and disengagement from eachother upon movement of said mandrels.

8. In an apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said second engageablemembers are so arranged relative to said mandrels that when the mandrelsare moved to one of their axial extreme positions said first and secondmembers are brought into engagement with each other and when moved awayfrom this position these members are disengaged from each other.

9. In combination with means for uncoiling a coil of strip-likematerial,

a means supporting a coil to be uncoiled,

said means including a first coil supporting member having a coilsupporting surface of a given length and a second coil supporting memberhaving a coil supporting surface of a length different than the lengthof said first coil supporting surface,

means for alternatively positioning the two members in position tosupport a coil, wherein said first member is employed to support coilsof a first range of widths and said second member is employed, to support coils of a range of widths different than the first range.

10. An apparatus according to claim 9 wherein each of said memberscomprise a pair of rollers,

a frame for rotatably carrying said rollers,

means for rotatably supporting said frame, and

means for rotating said frame to alternatively position either of saidpairs of rollers in the coil supporting position.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10 including means for holding saidframe in one of the alternative positions of said pairs of rollers.

12. An apparatus according to claim 10 including means for carrying theweight of a coil when carried by either of said pairs of rollers.

13. An apparatus according to claim it) including means 7 for moving acoil relative to said rollers and means for retracting said coil movingmeans to allow said frame and rollers to be rotated.

14. In an apparatus capable of functioning alternatively as a coil boxor uncoiler for uncoiling coils of strip-like material having opposedopenings the combination of:

a pair of opposed mandrels each having end portions adapted to bepresented to protrude into one of said openings of and for rotatablysupporting a coil when the apparatus is functioning as an uncoiler,

means for moving at least one of said mandrels relative to the other,

a disk cooperating with each of said mandrels having surfaces forengaging the opposite sides of a coil when the apparatus is functioningas a coil box,

said disks having portions engageable by said cooperative mandrels forrotatably supporting the disks and with respect to said movable mandrelfor causing said mandrel to move one of said disks toward and away fromone of the sides of a coil,

said disks being constructed and arranged to be brought from anoperative position, wherein the disks are rotatably supported by saidmandrels and positioned so that their surfaces may be contacted by acoil, to an inoperative position, wherein said disks will be positionedaway from said mandrels and coil and vice-versa,

means for moving the disks into and out of their operative positions,

means for supporting a coil during its uncoiling and when the apparatusis functioning as a coil box including a first coil supporting memberhaving a coil supporting surface of a given length and a second coilsupporting member having a coil supporting surface of a length differentthan the length of said first coil supporting surface, and

means for alternatively positioning the two members in position tosupport a coil wherein said first member is employed to support coils ofa first range of widths and said second member is employed to supportcoils of a range of widths different than the first range.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,236,971 4/1941Iversen et a]. 24278.6 2,329,832 9/1943 Fouse 24278.7 2,443,544 5/1948Longfield 242-78] 2,920,839 1/1960 Sarka 24278.6

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

1. IN AN APPARATUS CAPABLE OF FUNCTIONING ALTERNATIVELY AS A COIL BOX ORUNCOILER FOR UNCOILING COILS OF STRIP-LIKE MATERIAL HAVING OPPOSEDOPENING THE COMBINATION OF: A PAIR OF OPPOSED MANDRELS EACH HAVING ENDPORTIONS ADAPTED TO BE PRESENTED TO PROTRUDE INTO ONE OF SAID OPENINGSOF AND FOR ROTATABLY SUPPORTING A COIL WHEN THE APPARATUS IS FUNCTIONINGAS AN UNCOILER, MEANS FOR MOVING AT LEAST ONE OF SAID MANDRELS RELATIVETO THE OTHER, A DISK COOPERATING WITH EACH OF SAID MANDRELS HAVINGSURFACES FOR ENGAGING THE OPPOSITE SIDES OF A COIL WHEN THE APPARATUS ISFUNCTIONING AS A COIL BOX, SAID DISKS BEING CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED TOBE BROUGHT FROM AN OPERATIVE POSITION, WHEREIN THE DISKS ARE ROTATABLYSUPPORTED BY SAID MANDRELS AND POSITIONED SO THAT THEIR SURFACES MAY BECONTACTED BY A COIL, TO AN INOPERATIVE POSITION, WHEREIN SAID DISKS WILLBE POSITIOED AWAY FROM SAID MANDRELS AND COIL AND VICE-VERSA, AND MEANSFOR MOVING THE DISKS INTO AND OUT OF THEIR OPERATIVE POSITIONS.